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Savories

7-Step Hawaiian Chicken Salad: Hospitality in a Bowl

Hawaiian Chicken Salad is one of those colorful foods you can eat as much with your eyes as with your mouth. But, don't worry: it's delicious either way!

A-LŌ-HA.

If you’re anything like me, this Hawaiian greeting may feel like a bear hug the first time you hear it. Depending upon the situation it can mean, “Hello” or “Goodbye.” Whichever, the attitude behind the word is always one that communicates, “You are welcome here!”

In a similar way, this Hawaiian-style chicken salad is a sure way to declare “Welcome! So glad you’re here!” in a way your guests will understand.

…

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Filed Under: Dishes, Recipes, Savories Tagged With: Asian food, chicken salad, Hawaiian food, salad

Pispili, Cheesy Albanian Cornbread That Packs a Tang

Pispili, Albanian cornbread with leeks and feta cheese is a delicious snack or side dish for your small group.


The women spread supper—a large bowl of cheese melted in butter, into which we dipped our maize bread, and very good it was. ~ Edith Durham, High Albania

Cornbread in its essence — flour, cornmeal, and butter — already qualifies as a world-champion comfort food. When you bite into a piece of it, just out of the oven — aah, yes — it tastes like home.

So how, you may be asking, could a gal improve on that?

You might try making some Pispili. 

…

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Filed Under: Dishes, Recipes, Savor 196, Savories Tagged With: Albania, cornbread, picnic food, snack

Qabili Palau, Sweet & Savory Crowd-Pleaser [Recipe]

A white platter laden with Qabili Palau, the national dish of Afghanistan: carrot, black raisins, almond slivers, and basmati rice atop chicken.

“There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves.”–Thomas Wolfe

Are you happy they’ve invited you to make a dish for your next home group meeting but haven’t a clue what to make?

A small group gathering is an ideal occasion to introduce your crew to Qabili Palao, the national dish of Afghanistan.

For one thing, Qabili Palao packs big flavor and portions hearty enough to satisfy a small crowd. And for another, it’s likely a dish that no one in your crowd has tasted before. 

…

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Filed Under: Dishes, Recipes, Savor 196, Savories Tagged With: Afghan culture, Afghan food, rice dish

Superstars of Northern Italian Cuisine: A Regional Tour

 

Risotto alla milanese, this one decorated with red saffron threads, is one of the most colorful superstars of Northern Italian cuisine; image is "Italian saffron risotto" by kuvona.

Italian food really reflects the people. It reflects like a prism that fragments into regions. ~ Lidia Bastianich

If you’ve grown up believing fabulous plates of pasta, pizza, and bread were the greatest pleasures Italian cooking had to offer, hold on to your hats, dear foodie explorer, there’s MORE.

The foods of Naples and other cities in Southern Italy, from where the majority of Italian families in the U.S. hail, are just the tip of the iceberg….

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Filed Under: Culinary Tours, Destinations, Dishes, Inspiration, Savories Tagged With: canederli, fonduta, Italian food, Northern Italy, pesto, ragù, regional cuisine, risotto alla milanese, speck

Japan Travel Notes from the World’s Top Chefs

Table setting for Japanese food with copper-rimmed white dinner plate and hashi (chopsticks) atop a maki placemat.

An adventure with Japanese food not only has the power to influence your individual cooking style but, more than that, …

What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents. ~ Michael Chiarello

Have you ever noticed how the familiar taste or aroma of certain foods can transport us to the places we first experienced them? 

It’s like what happens whenever I bring fresh corn tortillas home from the store. I always sniff them ~ can’t resist it and don’t want to ~ and as soon as I catch that hint of lime…

… I’m back in central Mexico, a high school student having a meal with her homestay family.

Maybe it’s the same with you.…

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Filed Under: Asia, Culinary Tours, Destinations, Dishes, Inspiration, Popular, Savories Tagged With: David Chang, Elizabeth Andoh, food and travel quotes, Japanese food, kaiseki, Michael Chiarello, Momofuku, Noma, ramen, René Redzepi, somen

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Hello!

~~~~~I'm Melodie, a destination-inspired storyteller and good food adventurer. Traveling, to experience the wonder of other cultures, has been my lifelong passion. Now, I want to share what I've learned so you, too, can nourish your traveler's heart, explore the world, and eat crazy good food on the regular. It's like this...


She’s like a trading ship that sails to faraway places
    and brings back exotic surprises.
Proverbs 31:14

 

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